A southeastern Quebec firm working on DNA-based disease detection and monitoring for vegetable and fruit crops will get $1.2 million in federal backing for its R+D work.
Phytodata Inc., based at Sherrington in the Monteregie region south of Montreal, is already partnered with McCain Foods Canada to develop such detection systems, the company said in a federal government release Tuesday.
The funding, flowing through the government’s Developing Innovative Agri-Products initiative, will go toward developing “new ways to monitor and detect major diseases” in potatoes, grapes and hothouse tomatoes.
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DNA-based technologies are “highly reliable” in monitoring diseases affecting fruits and vegetables and can help farmers prevent the spread of disease through crops, thus reducing their need for pesticides, the government said.
Phytodata president Luc Brodeur said the funding will allow his company and McCain to “develop expertise unmatched in the world in the detection of late blight in potatoes and several other airborne plant diseases.”
Phytodata bills itself as mainly in the business of managing and carrying out agricultural research and development (R+D) work in collaboration with universities and other agencies.
The Developing Innovative Agri-Products initiative is part of the larger five-year, $158 million Growing Canadian Agri-Innovations program for “industry-led” product development, under the federal/provincial Growing Forward ag funding framework.
Applicants can get funding from the DIAP initiative for applied science and technical development work, such as the Phytodata project, for up to $4 million per approved project.
DIAP also backs development work on market opportunities for ag products, up to $2 million per approved project.
Applicants can also propose to combine funding from the two streams, for up to $4 million per project, including up to $2 million for market development work.
